David Keeps Winning: Game-Changing Month for Clean Energy

Wow. That's the word I've been repeating over and over this month, as news has rolled in of one clean energy victory after another. These are David and Goliath campaigns, led by community groups fighting for the health of their families, for clean air and water, and for a safe climate. Over and over, against all odds, from the deep South to the Oregon coast and everywhere in between, David keeps winning.

"With this agreement, we are building a future where dirty, expensive, and unnecessary projects like Kemper coal plants will be things of the past," said Louie Miller, state director of the Mississippi Sierra Club and Kemper's leading opponent over the last six years. "This agreement represents a quantum leap forward for Mississippians by creating a clear path for residents to install solar on their homes, make their own clean energy choices, and avoid huge rate hikes for unnecessary coal plants."

"Harding Street is the largest single source of industrial pollution, sulfur dioxide, soot, and carbon in our city," says Megan Anderson, an Indianapolis-based organizer with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. "This retirement marks the 500th coal boiler to be retired since the launch of the Club's Beyond Coal campaign in 2010, so we're dubbing this victory the Indy 500."

- Tennessee: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced it will retire the Allen coal plant in Memphis, which emits thousands of tons of pollutants in the air every year. Of special note in this story is that the TVA pointed specifically to community pressure as the reason they chose to go with a smaller natural gas plant and leave room for clean energy options:

TVA president Bill Johnson said TVA evaluated gas plants as large as 1,400 megawatts in their Environmental Assessment, but they went with a smaller plant in consideration of comments received urging TVA to "preserve the opportunity to use other kinds of energy resources such as solar or wind to meet future demands."

Scott Banbury, Conservation Program Coordinator for the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, says Tennesseans know that clean energy is the best choice for the Volunteer State - and they'll continue to let TVA know that.

"TVA, which is one of the nation's largest utilities, sees that coal is becoming an increasingly bad bet," said Banbury. "Clean energy technologies, like solar energy and wind power, as well as increased energy efficiency, are cheaper, cleaner and ultimately a better path forward for TVA and for Tennesseans."